Arequipa is located in South Central Peru several hundred miles southeast of Lima and it is nestled at the base of four volcanoes. Needless to say, the city has been rocked by natural disasters over the years—earthquakes, eruptions, etc. Fortunately for us, the only “disaster” we faced was the questionable quality of the hotel during our one night trip to the Colca Canyon. After experiencing Lima, it was great to see the sun out, and to find the city much more cozy and friendly. The Plaza de Armas, the main square in town was truly stunning; I could imagine a very [View Full Entry]

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Lima is the capital city of Peru, and the gateway for international air travel. Coming from abroad, you pretty much can’t avoid it. Raquel and I arrived at some ridiculous hour of the morning, and we were lucky that the Sheraton let us check in early at 6am. (We would later learn that we were very lucky that it was a Sunday.) We spent most of the day recovering from the overnight trip, relaxing and getting the lay of the land. When it was light out and we could actually see things well, things in general weren’t so pretty. The hotel [View Full Entry]

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For those of you who have not yet heard, I recently accepted a job with Bottlenotes, an Internet wine company, based in Palo Alto. I will be moving back to San Francisco at the beginning of August. As soon as I received the offer, I immediately looked into places that American miles would take me. Luckily tickets to Lima were available. My best friend from Kellogg, Raquel, is also coming along for the two week trip. Since it is last minute, it was challenging to find some of the domestic flights at reasonable prices so we ended up with three stops [View Full Entry]

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Originally my plan was to do my four day introductory open water scuba diving course in Koh Samui, but thanks again (Sapa recommendation) to my friend, Polly, I made the right decision and changed the course to Koh Tao. From the little I saw flying in and out of Koh Samui, it seemed to be very built up and overrun with tourists. Koh Tao only has a few small tourist areas and seems to be much more laid back. The island is 90 minutes north of Koh Phangan by boat, and pretty much everyone there goes for the diving. There are [View Full Entry]

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There has been one date with a big "X" on my calendar for my summer travels: August 9th. Koh Phangan, Thailand. Full Moon Party. There was so much ridiculousness there that I have to skip ahead of my last two blog entries to share what I witnessed (and participated in). To give you an idea of the magnitude of this party, begin by picturing a large crescent shaped beach, about a mile long. At both ends of the beach you see hotels decorated with bright, Christmas tree-like lights. Beginning in the middle of the beach with Catcus, the stretch of bars [View Full Entry]

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Located almost in the middle of the country, Siem Reap, literally translated as "defeated the Siam (or Thais)," is Cambodia's second largest city, with over 1 million residents, and is the home of some of the most incredible temples in the world. These temples are easily near the top of the list of the coolest things that I've seen in the whole world, let alone this summer trip. If you find yourself in Southeast Asia, I highly recommend stopping in for at least two full days (which is plenty of time) to check out these treasures. If you have an extra [View Full Entry]

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Sapa was easily one of my favorite stops in all of Vietnam. If you only have a week or less to spend in Vietnam, then I would definitely recommend flying into Hanoi and spending a couple days there in addition to Halong Bay. Originally it was not on my itinerary and my friend, Polly, who had been to Vietnam the year before, suggested that I cut something out (sorry, Hue) to go to Sapa instead. This small village is nestled in the highest mountain range in the country and is just south of the Chinese border. The only convenient way to [View Full Entry]

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Halong Bay is a can't-miss stop on any first time vacation in Vietnam. The tree covered limestone islands that jut out of the water are absolutely breathtaking. The easiest way to see the bay is to arrange a tour out of Hanoi. The typical itinerary is a three hour drive east of the city to the coast, followed by lunch. Depending on what tour company you use, there will be different comfort levels of the buses and your accomodations, which are typically on a junk boat on the bay. During the afternoon you cruise around the bay and usually stop at [View Full Entry]

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Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, had a different feel than Saigon, which was more hectic and more developed. The city center is right at Lake Hoan Kiem, which is only about a square mile. Just to the north of the lake is Old Town, a series of streets named for the different shops that line each one, like "Silk Street" on "Hash Steet" all in Vietnamese of course. I spent my first afternoon on a self guided walking tour of this area, making my way through both heavy and light rain. I began at a restaurant called Cha Ca La Vong, which takes [View Full Entry]

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Hoi An is an old, formerly major, port town in central Vietnam, known for it's Chinese and Japanese influences on its architecture. Today it is primarily known among tourists as the place to get clothes custom made as well as for its multiple cooking classes. My first afternoon there, I scoped out the many clothing stores (seemed like they were every other storefront). In the end, I didn't have any clothes made. My overall take was that the women's clothes looking interesting, but at least as far as men's dress shirts go, the materials were not particularly exciting. Although it only [View Full Entry]

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